SuaviloquyToday’s word

concise

Concise, a.

Etymology: [L. concisus cut off, short, p. p. of concidere to cut to pieces; con- + caedere to cut; perh. akin to scindere to cleave, and to E. shed, v.t.; cf. F. concis.]

Expressing much in a few words; condensed; brief and compacted; -- used of style in writing or speaking. The concise style, which expresseth not enough, but leaves somewhat to be understood. B. Jonson. Where the author is . . . too brief and concise, amplify a little. I. Watts.

Syn. -- Laconic; terse; brief; short; compendious; summary; succinct. See Laconic, and Terse.

Shades of meaning

Fernald has no entry of its own for concise; he lists it under terse.

Where he writes about it:

That which is concise (L. con-, with, together, and caedo, cut) is trimmed down, and that which is condensed (L. con-, with, together, and densus, thick) is, as it were, pressed together, so as to include as much as possible within a small space. — from terse